Paul had been warned about what would happen to him if he went into Jerusalem again. Paul had made trips to Jerusalem at least three other times after his conversion. Now Paul is going to Jerusalem for the last time. He will leave Jerusalem this time in chains. Paul’s ministry of the Good News was always very troubling and toxic to the Jewish community. They hated this man who they considered to be a traitor to Judaism. He began to minister Jesus Christ as Lord in Damascus. Immediately, his ministry about Jesus being the Messiah brought severe hatred toward him. After many days had gone by, there was a conspiracy among the Jews to kill him, but Saul learned of their plan. Day and night they kept close watch on the city gates in order to kill him. But his followers took him by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall. (Acts 9:23-25) Jesus had told Paul that he would suffer much in proclaiming the Good News that Jesus is the Lord of all. Suffering was a major part of Paul’s life. Paul describes his difficult life to the Corinthians in his second letter to them, defending his position as an apostle. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. (2 Corinthians 11:23-26) The Jews’ animonsity towards Paul was so hot that they followed him from city to city, wishing to stone this apostate, the justifiable penalty for anyone who teaches another way to be right with God other than obeying the law given to them on Mount Sinai. For Paul to go back to Jerusalem, the headquarters of Judaism, was suicidal in nature. Paul understood that, and the Jerusalem church understood the danger that Paul has put himself in by going back to Jerusalem. In order to ameliorate the hatred that the Jews had for Paul, they had Paul take the Nazarite vow, a commitment to God for a specific amount of time. The Jerusalem church felt this Nazarite commitment on Paul’s part would persuade Paul’s enemies that Paul is fully supportive of the law and its regulations. Of course Paul believed in the law and its regulations, but believed that Jesus Christ in himself fulfilled all the requirements of the Sinai law. Only Jesus could satisfy the laws' requirement; consequently, to be perfect before God’s eyes, people must put their faith in Jesus’ works and not their own. This idea was anathema to the Jews, for it eliminated much of their lifestyle of being Jewish, even their circumcision requirement. Paul in many of the Greek communities was the point man for introducing the Good News, pointing out The Way to be right with God. As the point of the spear, the Jewish community wished to do away with him. The Arabian Jews finally caught up with Paul in Jerusalem, and they riled up the crowd to kill him.
Paul in his conversion became a slave to Jesus Christ. No longer was his will front and center in his life, but it was Jesus’ will that directed his life. Consequently, he had to leave his old life behind him. HIs focus as a new creature IN CHRIST was constantly on the will of God and on the great commission to go into all the world, preaching the Good News of eternal life to all who would put their trust in the works of Jesus Christ. As a committed follower of Jesus, he left behind him many things that most people hold dear in their lives. “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it. (Matthew 10:37-39) Like a laser beam, Paul’s purpose for his life was to please his Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He would acknowledge Jesus as Lord and savior in every community he visited. People knew Paul’s life emulated Christ in all of these communities. Jesus also was rejected by the leaders of the Jewish community. His life was threatened many times; at least eight times the Jews threatened to kill Jesus. In Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth they attempted to murder him. When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. But passing through their midst, he went away. (Luke 4:28-30) In other places the people wanted to stone Jesus for being an apostate. Again his Jewish opponents picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus said to them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?” “We are not stoning you for any good work,” they replied, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.” (John 10:31-33) Blasphemy in the law always called for stoning the blasphemer. This would cure the land from such contamination. Consequently, Jesus was threatened with stoning many times. Stephen’s words were considered to be blasphemous, out of anger they stoned him. The Sanhedrin was the religious police of that day. No act of supernatural activity by the apostate could delay the sentence of stoning, for those who practiced sorcery and divination could also perform supernatural acts. Therefore, even though Jesus performed many miracles and Paul did also, that fact did not deter the Jews from wanting to murder them. The barbarians who previously occupied Canaan were fully involved with such work of Beelzebub.
Paul had been in the hands of a mob many times in his life. He had experienced the pain of people beating on him with their fists, trying to tear his eyes out, ripping up his flesh, probably stripping him of his clothing. Once again he was experiencing the terror of being in the hands of people who were full of hatred for him. Jesus had also experienced this same kind of hatred towards him. “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.' (John 15:18-20) John reminds us of what kind of spirit we should possess about the world and the things in it. Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever. (1 John 2:15-17) For sure Jesus did the will of his Father; He always did the will of his Father, even when faced with a horrible death on the cross of Golgotha. It is not my will be done, but yours Father. Paul is now in Jerusalem, not his will but the Father’s will. Throughout his third missionary journey, Paul was collecting money from the Gentile churches in Macedonia and Greece for the Jewish church in Jerusalem. It was the Father’s will that he collect this money to help the Christian Jews in Jerusalem, but now he was in a maelstrom of hurt; people in Jerusalem are intent on killing him. They would have completed the deed if it were not for the Romans. While they were trying to kill him, news reached the commander of the Roman troops that the whole city of Jerusalem was in an uproar. It was the responsibility of the Roman garrisons to keep order in the area where they were stationed. The officers in the garrisons along with the civilian leaders were given the responsibility from Rome to control the populace, keep them from rioting or disturbing the peace of the area. So Roman soldiers rescued Paul from the violent crowd. The rioters calmed down somewhat because going against the authority of Rome could mean death. The commander at once took some officers and soldiers and ran down to the crowd. When the rioters saw the commander and his soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. Paul’s life was saved for another day, but the will of the Father still lay heavily on his life. He would eventually die in Rome, still in chains. Dear friends around this breakfast table, living for Christ is a conundrum; we are free but yet slaves. We have eternal life guaranteed to us, yet die daily. We are in the world, yet not part of the world. We bring peace to the world, yet find strife: Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.” (Luke 12:51-53) What does all this mean for us who follow Christ as new creatures? We are to do the will of God, focused on emulating Christ in everything we do. Our daily lives must be centered on Christ. People ought to see Jesus in our every action. Paul lived a life where constant threats were on him. People wanted to kill him. Yet, he displayed the goodness of God. Let us display the goodness of God in our lives regardless of circumstances so that Christ is glorified.
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